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Blogging Through The Bible(Intro):Genesis 1

I want to begin blogging through the bible. This is something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and I really hope I can keep it up. I don’t know how fast or slow it will go, but I think it could be a blessing to many, including myself. I don’t make any claims to be a great biblical scholar, but I do spend much time studying the Scriptures and I pray the knowledge I’ve gained and will continue to gain can be of benefit to others and I hope that folks might use this as a springboard to study the Bible for themselves.

One of the goals of my ministry, whether it be preaching or writing, is to help others fall in love with the Bible. Obviously the major goal is to help them fall in love with Jesus, but I think this happens fully, when we fall in love with the Scriptures that speak of Him from beginning to end. Also, it is important to note I don’t intend to pull out every single detail of the Scripture. This would indeed take more than a lifetime. I simply intend to pull out the major points that I see as I go through the Bible myself, and I hope to give this to the reader in bite size and easy to understand chunks.

So, as we begin this journey, I beg you for your prayers. I will need them to stay faithful in this blogging journey. Also, please pray for those who read, that they will be blessed and pointed to Jesus. Also, if you have friends or loved ones who are seeking, send them to the blog. Perhaps God would use this to help them learn more about the Bible, and through that learn about God and what He’s doing in the world. I also ask that you would ask questions if you have them, or even just offer encouragement as you feel lead. Few things inspire like a kind word or to know that people are reading and thinking about what you are saying.

So now that we have the introduction out of the way, let us turn our attention to the Scriptures.

People approach Genesis 1 in many different ways. Obviously, there are those who view it as nothing more than a myth. I don’t really have anything to say to those folks, because nothing I write here will make them see any differently. There are also those who believe Genesis 1 is completely true…these are my people. But even among these folks you will have many differing views as to how we should read Genesis 1, and what we should believe about creation.

Here we have the first major point…Genesis 1 is about creation. That’s the point Moses(the author of Genesis) is trying to make in Genesis 1. Where did everything come from? When Moses penned the book, there were many different creation stories going around. Moses wanted his people to know the truth of their own origins, and the origin of all the created universe. Everything we see (and can’t see) came from God. God spoke all things into existence simply by speaking.

Some want to view Genesis 1 from a scientific point of view, and view the order in which God created things and show how it lines up perfectly with the way we know science “works.” I suppose there are good points to be made here, but I don’t want to dwell here for our current purposes. Others want to talk about the age of the earth, and what exactly is the length of a “day” as it is used here…since in Hebrew the word “yom” that is translated as “day” in the text can either mean 24 hours as we know it, but it can also mean other lengths of time…Unfortunately, we can’t “know” how the word is used here…So, there is room for discussion here.

On this previous issue, hinges the debate of the different issues related to evolution. And the origins of man.

But ultimately, this isn’t the point Moses is making.

Genesis 1 isn’t a science book, nor does it intend to be(nor do I believe it is opposition to science as some erroneously declare)…If we want to boil Genesis 1 down to it’s main points, I believe these are the things we must see:

*God is the creator of all things.

*God created all things from nothing.

*God was already present “In the beginning” therefore God is eternal and has no creator…from eternity past to eternity future God simply “is”…This is certainly one of the most important and foundational truths that we have to get and apply to our lives, “In the beginning God…” Indeed God is the creator and is sovereign over ALL things, and upon this truth everything in Scripture is based…and if more of us could wrap our minds around it, it would truly change everything and how we view the world.

*Man is the highlight and jewel of God’s creation, for he was “created in the image of God.”

*When God created all things he looked around and said it was “very good”

There are of course other “theological” issues we can address here in Genesis 1…

*The Trinity was present at creation…There is the plurality of the hebrew Word “Elohim” used for God..There is also the fact that in Genesis 1:2, it references the “Spirit of God” hovering over the waters…Then we look to John 1 as he puts Jesus in Genesis 1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…The Word became flesh.” So, I believe we see the trinity in Genesis 1.

*Also, as I stated, Man was the jewel of creation. He was to rule over the fish, the birds, and the livestock, and over all the earth…We also see that God provided for man everything he needed, Genesis 1:29-30. And, God as I said earlier, created all things “very good.”

We will see in just a bit that, things didn’t stay “very good” but we can’t place the blame for that on God.